Can Marijuana Reverse Bone Loss Mechanism?

Bone loss is pretty much inevitable with age and can be characterized by weak limbs. People are now looking for answers to reverse the deteriorating effects of bone loss and aging. Cannabinoids have been said to be able to treat chronic pain through their neuroprotective and anti inflammatory abilities. Cannabinoids are naturally occuring in the cannabis plant (cannabis sativa). Cannabinoids consist of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabinol (CBD).

THC is the psychoactive part of marijuana and gives you the high feeling when smoked. CBD is the medicinal side of marijuana and this gives you the feeling of being relaxed. The endocannabinoid system holds two cannabinoid receptors, 1 and 2, that allow cannabinoids to bind and work throughout the body.

This paper will look at how cannabinoids can work in the body to reverse bone loss.

Main Points

Cannabinoids Have a Skeleton Protection Ability

Cannabinoids May Combat Osteoporosis

Cannabinoids Have a Skeleton Protection Ability

The active part of cannabis, THC, triggers the cannabinoid receptors 1 and 2, thus relaying the function of endogenous cannabinoids. Cannabinoid receptor 1 is predominantly neuronal and controls the cannabinoid psychoactive impacts. Cannabinoids receptor 2 is broadly communicated in peripheral tissues, majorly in pathological disorders. So far the major endocannabinoids, anandamide and 2-arachidonoylglycerol, have been discovered in bone at ‘neuronal’ levels.

Cannabinoids May Combat Osteoporosis

Recent experiments in rodents and humans indicate a detrimental position for the endocannabinoid network in the mediation of skeletal redesigning and the sequential problems on bone matter and biomechanical mechanism. Although the cannabinoid receptor 1 has been seen in sympathetic sections innervating the skeleton, its position in regulating bone turnover remains to be clarified.

The cannabinoid receptor 2 is communicated in bone tissues. Its bone anabolic ability, consisting of some of the actions involved, has been portrayed in minor descriptions, and is also implicated from human genetic experiments. These experiments illustrate polymorphisms in CNR2, the gene encoding cannabinoid receptor 2, as detrimental genetic danger factors for bone loss.

Taken together, the publications on cannabinoid receptors in mice and humans pave the path for the advancement of diagnostic measures to single out bone loss-susceptible polymorphisms in CNR2, and cannabinoid agents to fight bone loss.

Registered with the British Psychological Society, breaking the taboo on mental health issues is one of the driving forces in Jonathan's life. His background in biomedicine gives him additional understanding of the factors that work together to influence the human condition.